On the Evolution of My Book Cover: a Guest Post by Margaux Froley

http://www.margauxfroley.com/

@MargauxFroley

Margaux Froley is a Southern California native and a boarding school grad. She spent the last few years working her way through the Hollywood ranks to become a television writer on CW's Privileged. She then moved to New York to become a development executive at MTV Networks. Escape Theory is her first novel.

ESCAPE THEORY:

Sixteen-year-old Devon Mackintosh has always felt like an outsider at Keaton, the prestigious California boarding school perched above the Pacific. As long as she’s not fitting in, Devon figures she might as well pad her application to Stanford’s psych program. So junior year, she decides to become a peer counselor, a de facto therapist for students in crisis. At first, it seems like it will be an easy fly-on-the-wall gig, but her expectations are turned upside down when Jason Hutchins (a.k.a. “Hutch”), one of the Keaton’s most popular students, commits suicide. 

Devon dives into her new role providing support for Hutch’s friends, but she’s haunted by her own attachment to him. The two shared an extraordinary night during their first week freshman year; it was the only time at Keaton when she felt like someone else really understood her.  As the secrets and confessions pile up in her sessions, Devon comes to a startling conclusion: Hutch couldn't have taken his own life. Bound by her oath of confidentiality—and tortured by her unrequited love—Devon embarks on a solitary mission to get to the bottom of Hutch's death, and the stakes are higher than she ever could have imagined.

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Pub Club, Pub World

Hello, and welcome to the section installment of “Pub Club, Pub World”! This section will update all you lovely blog readers about what’s going on in the world of publishing.

Here's the latest news for this month!

1. From February 22nd through February 25th, around 500 independent booksellers, publishers and authors attended Wi8, or the 8^th annual Winter Institute, in downtown Kansas City. The annual Winter Institute is gaining more and more popularity each year. Even the blizzards that immobilized the Midwest couldn't slow down the party - over 95% of those scheduled to attend were able to get there despite the snow. The event, which allows ABA (American Booksellers Association) member bookstores to attend, includes several special events, including "two Reps Pick lunches, the Winter Institute's signature Author Reception, and a trip to the National Association of College Stores' CAMEX trade show.” For those worried about the fate of the independent bookseller, this is your beacon of hope. The event is growing larger and larger every year, providing educational and engaging experiences for those involved in independent publishing.

2. Now let's look at the most recent lawsuit being filed against the Big Six. The Big Six (Random House, Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan) and Amazon are being sued by three independent bookstores because of DRM rights. The plan, according to the filed complaint, is that the DRM (digital rights management, which is used to protect eBooks from getting shared person to person) is squeezing independent booksellers out of the business. The lawsuit is on the heels of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple and five of the Big Six publishers over eBook price fixing. Said lawsuit is accused of solidifying Amazon's monopoly over the eBook industry. It's already a major concern that the eBook is putting publishers out of business, but it definitely endangers the independent publishers who are not affiliated with the Big Six! We'll follow closely for updates on this lawsuit.

3. Finally, let's take a look at Paper Lantern Lit. This company is a "book packaging" company, which means that they brainstorm novel ideas and give them to authors to write. The company just hosted its bi-annual gathering to generate more ideas. The concept of book packaging has produced some of the most iconic books, such as the Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries series, which originate from another book packaging company, Alloy. Paper Lantern Lit, since it's launch in 2010, has published every proposal they have generated, now totaling 23 books, and three are in the works for television or film production. The company has helped publish nine first time writers, and the books are now being sold to some of the Big Six publishing houses. This has two possible effects. First, considering authors don't need to produce their own ideas, those who are good writers but bad idea generators need not fear. Secondly, on a negative note, those with brilliant, original ideas are getting overlooked because of the writers who work off of others’ ideas. Is it worth it? Only time, and the sales of these books will tell.

Keep reading for more news next month!

Sources:

Publishers Weekly 

Book Web

Huffington Post

Digital Book World 

Fast Company

By Natalie Hamil

Booking It

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted an early spring, but here in Boston, the weather is hardly cheerful. Mountains of snow still litter the Common (a parting gift from Nemo) and temperatures won’t hit fifty for weeks. Students from Boston and beyond are itching to break out the flip flops and ice cream cones; for the time being, though, we’re stuck in our Snuggies, clutching mugs of hot cocoa for warmth. Staying inside might be necessary, but boredom certainly isn’t. Chilly days are perfect for vibrant books — and Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus is a colorful relief from the New England winter.

Set partly in Cambridge, Morgenstern’s debut novel is so richly developed that icy winds and cold fingers fade from memory after the first page. As the Boston Globe comments, it’s “so sparklingly alive, you’ll swear the pages are breathing in your hands.” Reviewers aren’t the only ones to think so. The Night Circus spent seven weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, reaching a number two spot after its 2011 publication.

Aspects of Self Publishing

Benefits of Self-Publishing

Self-publishing has become increasingly popular in recent years, and it’s no surprise considering the many benefits of self-publishing when compared to traditional publishing.

Going the traditional route, you need an agent and publishing house—the timeline for this process can range anywhere from a couple of months to years. However, if you choose to self-publish you bypass traditional publishing altogether, cutting down the process to a possible few weeks. Self-publishing also means that if an author is writing in a genre, or about an issue that is currently popular, their self-published book will come out while the genre/issue is still popular.

Do YOU know Who Done It?

Book Review: Who Done It?

book edited by John Scieszka (And YOU, the Reader)

Summary from Goodreads:

A star-studded anthology with a devilish hook, whose proceeds benefit 826nyc: the fabulous literacy non-profit founded by Dave Eggers.

Can you imagine the most cantankerous book editor alive? Part Voldemort, part Cruella de Vil (if she were a dude), and worse in appearance and odor than a gluttonous farm pig? A man who makes no secret of his love of cheese or his disdain of unworthy authors? That man is Herman Mildew.

The anthology opens with an invitation to a party, care of this insufferable monster, where more than 80 of the most talented, bestselling and recognizable names in YA and children’s fiction learn that they are suspects in his murder. All must provide alibis in brief first-person entries. The problem is that all of them are liars, all of them are fabulists, and all have something to hide...

What’s Trending

Modernizing Classic Characters

                                   

There are some characters in literature that simply will not go away. Call it love, call it stubbornness, call it whatever you will, but while thousands of books and their principle players have been buried inches deep in dust on old bookshelves, there are some characters so resilient that they are as beloved now as when they first came into existence.  Romeo and Juliet will never rest in peace; Oedipus will perpetually be cycling, and readers will be trying to make sense of Ulysses until the apocalypse.

What makes us love these characters and their stories so much? There isn’t a single answer (how could there be?) but it seems to lie somewhere in the ballpark of universality of a deeply shared commonality or humanity, or something equally as deep sounding. As long as these characters live in their original habitats, there can be a gulf between them and us, their present-day readers. They exist in a different world and although we share a fundamental humanity, our outward and societal experiences have some inherent differences. But that is, ladies and gents, how we come to our current trend: modern reinterpretations.

Tips for Writers and Workshoppers!

Open Mind, Better Workshop

Hey Emerson writers! Welcome to the first month of a new blog written just for you. Each month we’ll offer a new article filled with writing tips and workshop etiquette. This time around, we have some suggestions meant to help you get the most of your writing workshop. I believe in a few necessities that everyone should keep in mind in order to foster a positive workshop environment. The following recommendations should help make workshop experiences more satisfying and worthwhile for both you and your peers.

#1: Always go into every workshop with an open mind. Close mindedness will only dampen the experience for you. I can’t emphasize this enough: every opinion is one to be valued and appreciated, even if you don’t necessarily agree with it. And you don’t have to. But it’s important to respect the advice others are trying to give to you.